Professional Documents
Culture Documents
de Pisa -Italy
•
Leaning Tower of Pisa •
!A humble tower and too many detractors
Like all other structures the Tower of Pisa was also built to
stand straight, but the fate of this particular one is to stand
leaning for all its life .This lean turned out to be the tower’s
identity and the credit of the Whole Pisa city .There were
opinions from detractors that this structure was originally
built to lean which were subsequently proved wrong after
testing the ground soil and other details .There are more
accusations against the leaning tower like a useless
structure, it pauses danger to tourists etc .Unmindful of all
these this tower is keeping on leaning and pulling crowds to
.the city of Pisa and bringing its cash registers ringing
?Who built it
This tower (official name Torre Pendente di Pisa) is located in Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa
Italy; is an 8 storied tower, it is 55.86 meters (183.27 feet) in height and its famous
(notorious) slant is 5.5 degrees. That means that its the top is away from its base by 4.5
meters. The width of the wall at the base is 4.09 meters and that at the top is 2.48
meters altogether there are 294 steps that lead to the top. The first floor is supported by
pillars with classical capitals. This entire tower is estimated to weigh 14,500 tons. Its
foundation is just 3 meters in height and built in loose and unstable soil (reason for the
slant).z
Work calendar
This wonderful tower; approved by UNESCO as World Heritage Site; ‘that keeps on tilting
without falling’ it also has been selected as one of the Seven Manmade Wonders of the
World. One may be shocked to read that this world heritage was on the verge of
destruction during the Second World War. Nazis took hiding in it and it was discovered by
the Allies, by the fortune of the whole world the American officer deputed to deal with the
affairs did not call for the cannon fire. Virtually the existence of this World Heritage Site
hung on a single word from that unknown officer who deserves the status of a world war
hero.
)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has one more tryst with history as Galileo Galilee also a native
of Pisa used this tower to prove his theory by dropping two cannon balls of different
weights and established before the public that mass of a material does not affect
acceleration due to gravity (things of different weights if dropped will fall in the same
speed). Before this experiment the whole world thought that heavier fell in greater speed if
dropped. This Tower of Pisa has seen much events since its construction and survived
9centuries keeping the world in tender-hooks about will fall and will not fall, let us hope it
stands for ever sp that generations to come may also have a tender hook, will it or will it
not?!!!